Most DBMSs use a locking mechanism within the computer system they are running in, to protect themselves and the applications using them against reading the data when in an inconsistent state. They also use cache buffers to improve performance, potentially deferring the actual manifestation of committed data on the disk for an indefinite time.
Accessing the live data maintained by such DBMSs in a consistent way is, hence, impossible for programs running on a different system.
Prior art tools, accessing data of a DBMS in a heterogeneous environment rely, therefore, on quiesced, stable, potentially mirrored, images of the data.
This results in the need for long periods where the database is not updated or for extra storage and the ability to compromise with data that is not up to date.
The purpose of the current invention, is to relief that restriction and create a mechanism that will enable access to the live data of a DBMS executing on a different system without relying on said DBMS's cache buffers and locking protocols or on cycles in the computer system where said DBMS is executing.